Dorcas Coker-Appiah


Dorcas Ama Frema Coker-Appiah is a Ghanaian lawyer and women's rights activist, and the executive director of the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre, also known as the "Gender Centre", in Accra, Ghana. She has had important roles in several organisations promoting women's rights at national, regional and international levels.

Early life

Dorcas Ama Frema Coker-Appiah was born on 17 August 1946 in Wenchi, in the British colony of the Gold Coast. In 1970, Coker-Appiah earned a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Ghana.

Career

In 1974, Coker-Appiah was a founding member of FIDA Ghana, and served as vice president from 1988 to 1989, followed by president from 1990 to 1991. She has served as the president of FIDA's legal aid steering committee, and the project coordinator of the legal, literacy and publication committee for some years.
Coker-Appiah is the executive director of the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre.
Coker-Appiah is a member of Women in Law and Development in Africa, a Pan-African network of organizations and individuals with members in twenty-six African countries, and a founding member of WiLDAF Ghana and the chairperson of its African regional board.
In September 2017, she led a workshop for a group of "leading African feminists" at the South African organisation Masimanyane Women's Rights International, together with Dr Hilda Tadria, the executive director of the Mentoring and Empowerment Programme for Young Women in Uganda, and provided a "powerful workshop unpacking the patriarchy system".

Publications